CI/CD with GitHub Actions: Automating Your Workflow

GitHub Actions makes it easy to automate all your software workflows. Let's build robust CI/CD pipelines.

Basic Workflow

# .github/workflows/ci.yml
name: CI

on:
  push:
    branches: [main]
  pull_request:
    branches: [main]

jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      
      - name: Setup Node.js
        uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: '20'
          cache: 'npm'
      
      - name: Install dependencies
        run: npm ci
      
      - name: Run tests
        run: npm test
      
      - name: Build
        run: npm run build

Caching Dependencies

- name: Cache dependencies
  uses: actions/cache@v3
  with:
    path: ~/.npm
    key: ${{ runner.os }}-node-${{ hashFiles('**/package-lock.json') }}
    restore-keys: |
      ${{ runner.os }}-node-

Matrix Strategy

jobs:
  test:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    strategy:
      matrix:
        node-version: [18, 20, 22]
    
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: ${{ matrix.node-version }}
      - run: npm ci
      - run: npm test

Environment Variables and Secrets

jobs:
  deploy:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    env:
      NODE_ENV: production
    
    steps:
      - name: Deploy
        env:
          API_KEY: ${{ secrets.API_KEY }}
          DATABASE_URL: ${{ secrets.DATABASE_URL }}
        run: |
          echo "Deploying to production..."
          npm run deploy

Deployment Workflow

name: Deploy

on:
  push:
    branches: [main]

jobs:
  deploy:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      
      - name: Setup Node.js
        uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: '20'
          cache: 'npm'
      
      - run: npm ci
      - run: npm run build
      
      - name: Deploy to Vercel
        uses: amondnet/vercel-action@v25
        with:
          vercel-token: ${{ secrets.VERCEL_TOKEN }}
          vercel-org-id: ${{ secrets.VERCEL_ORG_ID }}
          vercel-project-id: ${{ secrets.VERCEL_PROJECT_ID }}
          vercel-args: '--prod'

Conditional Workflows

jobs:
  test:
    if: github.event_name == 'pull_request'
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - run: npm test
  
  deploy:
    if: github.ref == 'refs/heads/main'
    needs: test
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - run: npm run deploy

Reusable Workflows

# .github/workflows/reusable.yml
on:
  workflow_call:
    inputs:
      node-version:
        required: true
        type: string

jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: ${{ inputs.node-version }}

# Using the reusable workflow
jobs:
  call-workflow:
    uses: ./.github/workflows/reusable.yml
    with:
      node-version: '20'

Best Practices

1. Use caching for faster builds
2. Pin action versions for stability
3. Use secrets for sensitive data
4. Test in parallel with matrix
5. Use conditional execution appropriately

Conclusion

GitHub Actions provides a powerful, integrated CI/CD solution. With proper configuration, you can automate testing, building, and deployment for reliable software delivery.